Mars and Earth as film sets

BBC NEWS features a fascinating technology article detailing how a 3D Mars is being recreated from photos.

The opportunities for virtual film sets are increasing every month, with September the scheduled completion date for the US military to create a second 'virtual' Earth [Source: BBC News]

The detailed simulation will be drawn from a real-world terrain database and will be drawn to the same scale as the original. The software Earth is being created for the US Army by gaming company There, which is currently working on a virtual world for gamers.

This recreation is specced to allow simulation based more around optimising US intelligence, patrolling and interaction with indigenous populations rather than as a war sim. But the opportunities for 'virtual' location scouting and beyond if digital filmmakers can get their hands on it are obvious.